BRK&T Aurora, Bravo 1, or something else?

[jds1]

Jeff - the modified PSKK/kat has the following dimensions: 3.5" blade at 3/32" thick; 4.0" handle with 1/4" slabs in osage orange. Steel is O1.

Here is a picture of the design sketch I sent to him that I made up in powerpoint. I basically cropped out the handle of the peacemaker and resized to fit the cartoon blade of my choosing. The grid marks are 1/4". I'm super impressed at how Bryan faithfully realized the sketch!

Thanks again. Mine will be along in a couple of weeks.

Jeff

 

[PB Wilson]

I believe these can vary a bit from knife to knife.
The max width of the Aurora's handle on mine is .840" at the palm swell.
Max height is 1.165" at the rear bulge and 1.060" at the palm swell.
Handle OAL is 4.935"

Thanks for the measurements. I'm going to make some handles for a few Mora, Brusletto and Helle blades I got from Ragnar and I wanted something similar to the Aurora. I appreciate it.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Since I won't be making fire boards (drilling), I am not sure why go to a spear point unless you like narrower blades. /QUOTE]

Hey Toad, I don't quite get this. I've made quite a few fire boards over the years and I've never had to drill any. The only time I can think of, offhand, that I might drill a hole would be to make an Ojibway bird snare.

Even Kochanski mentions the uses as fashioning the bow in the bow drill (I have a much different take on bows - no holes to drill)

, when building choke bars in snaring (in the only picture of snaring that I see in his book, no holes are drilled), and in the construction of folk toys (not a big priority in Doc's World). Other people may have different experiences.

And like you, I don't particularly like them.

Doc

 

[hudak]

For BRK&T I would really suggest considering the Highland Special which has IMO a very good thickness optimized for slicing, it has that clip point and lots of belly you seem to like so much and is plenty robust for bushcraft. However, some people do complain that its handle is a bit smaller then the other models.

I'd also strongly recommend going with one of the knifemakers here on these forums. Surprisingly the costs of their knives are about 20-40% cheaper than most BKR&T's models and you get a knife with personal touch. I certainly don't doubt Mike Stewart's attention to quality, but to me there is just something about having a knife that has been produced in the numbers of 10's or 50's rather than in the 10,000's. Some great makers: koyote, Daniel Koster, Bryan Breeden, Scott Gossman, NWA knives, Bill Siegle, and others (apologies to those I missed here).

I've now ordered 4 knives from Bryan Breeden. I can attest that working with him, you can get a knife to your own specs and he is exceptional to deal with. Basically, you have your choice of models and then can customize it from there. He will change the thickness of the blade, change the length and width of the blade or handle, change the handle materials. So basically you can get the knife that is perfect for you.

Here is my kat knife and pathfinder. The kat knife has thin slabs and was built for my wife's hands. It actually makes a good necker though! The pathfinder has a 5" handle and there is lots of room. The curves on this handle are wonderfully comfortable.



I didn't really want to post this picture (Bryan's) yet, but wanted to wait until these two models were shipped to me. But, I think you will really appreciate the shape of Bryan's latest design - the Peacemaker. It has more of a clip point shape that you seem to like. This one is in 6" blade length, but Bryan can make a smaller length and is making himself a couple of 4" knives of the same model.

Finally, my newest little Kat knife. For this one, I asked Bryan to marry the PSK handle to the Kat blade. I also really liked the wood handle and had thicker slabs and long handle length (4") built for my hands. From his picture I think the result is really pleasing and I can't wait to try them out.

Beautiful knives....Where did you get the kydex for the Breeden's?